


Vacation

by EmmaArthur (EchoBleu)



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, M/M, Prompt Fill, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, pure fluff, vacation in Paris, very self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23019472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoBleu/pseuds/EmmaArthur
Summary: Alex and Michael are on vacation in Paris.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 20
Kudos: 75





	Vacation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justsomejerk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justsomejerk/gifts).



> Aileen's prompt was: "Malex on vacation in France. Michael keeps attempting to speak bad french with a terrible accent and all the locals hate him and Alex is giving everyone apologetic looks"
> 
> This went a little off prompt, but I hope you like it! Every single location and random fact mentioned is real :)

"First real day of vacation,” Michael says, stretching in the huge hotel bed.

Alex props himself up on his elbow and smiles. “You excited?”

“Yeah! Paris, baby!”

Michael punches the air, and they both laugh. “ It's gonna be amazing,” Michael says more quietly.

“You've ever been on vacation before?”

Michael bites his lip. “Not really. Never had someone to go with, or jobs I could take time off from. I took the Airstream out to a couple of places overnight back when I first got it, but that's it. Yesterday was my first time flying.”

Alex feels a little sad at that. He'd pieced it together, from Michael's anxiousness over this vacation and what he's told him about his life in Roswell over the last decade, but it's another thing to hear it confirmed.

“What about you?” Michael asks.

“I've been stationed in different places, and I usually went to explore if I got a chance,” Alex answers. “Mostly on my own, sometimes with the guys from the base, but I've never done something like this.”

“You mean going on a vacation as a couple?”

“Well, yeah, but also picking a place and deciding to go there just to have fun.”

Neither of them asks if they went on vacation as a child. They have something of a tacit agreement not to bring up their childhoods for no good reason, though they've spent many hours talking about the things they've been through. There's just no point ruining their fun by bringing up bad memories.

“So what's the plan for today?” Michael asks. “You said we wouldn't go see the Eiffel Tower until the last day, what are we doing until then?”

“Don't worry, there's plenty of other things to do in Paris. I thought we walk around here, maybe go see Notre-Dame?”

“Didn't it burn down?”

“Only the roof. It's closed to the public, but it's mostly interesting from the outside anyway.”

“How do you know all this? You've been here before?”

“No,” Alex shakes his head, sitting up. “I just did my homework. I like having a plan. You want the shower first?”

“Nah, you take it so you can do your PT while I shower.”

“Thanks.”

Alex is quick as always in the shower, a lifetime of military showers only slowed down a little by the need to sit down. Thankfully, he made sure that the hotel room was accessible before he booked it. By the time he's done, Michael is ready to take his place, and he's even pushed away the armchair to make space for Alex's slim PT mat.

They go down to breakfast half an hour later. The hotel restaurant is lively but not too noisy, and their table is in a corner. They're immediately served croissants and a choice of drinks.

Alex sweetly thanks the waitress in French and she smiles back, answering in kind.

“How do you speak French so well?” Michael asks.

“I told you, I was based in Tunisia for a while,” Alex answers, turning back to him.

“And you learned all the languages of the places you were in? Wait, don't Tunisian speak Arabic?”

“And French. Tunisia was a French colony. I had enough high school French to get by, and my Arabic was really bad, so I took Arabic classes in French.”

“Why would you even do that?” Michael grumbles. “You're such a nerd.”

“That's why you love me,” Alex snorts.

“Who says that's why? I may be secretly hoping to siphon the nerd out of you.”

Alex shakes his head. “You're just as much a nerd as I am. Why do you think I've planned for us to go the Palais de la Découverte tomorrow? They have a huge space exhibition  _and_ a conference  on exoplanets.”

M ichael throws up his arms. “Okay, you've got me. Exoplanets, really?”

“Yeah. I doubt there's going to be anything on telekinetic aliens, but I thought it worth checking out anyway.”

“You're amazing.” 

Michael leans in to kiss him, but Alex pulls back, laughing. “Hey, you have a mouthful of croissant!”

“What? They're so good!”

A lex takes one crutch with him when they leave the hotel. He's going to need the support if they're on their feet all day, and he can only pray that his leg with hold up to the end of the week.  Michael stops by the front desk in the lobby and butchers some French at the receptionist, grabbing a few pamphlet s .

“So,” he starts when they're both standing on the sidewalk outside the hotel. “Where to?” He unfolds one of the pamphlets, which turns out to be a map. “Notre Dame is...there, and we're…can you help me out here?”

Alex watches him with amusement. “Are you actually using a paper map? Who even does that anymore?”

“I do,” Michael says sullenly, struggling to refold the map.

Alex pulls out his phone and brings up Google Maps. “We need to go in this direction,” he points.

Paris, or at least its center, turns out to be a real maze, though. After only a few minutes, they realize that they've been going in the wrong direction, and nothing is making sense, despite the blue dot on Alex's phone supposed to tell them where they are.

“Shit,” Alex beats himself up. “I'm supposed to be trained in this.”

“Not everything is enemy territory,” Michael shrugs. “How about we ask someone?”

Alex bites his lip. He's not quite ready to admit that stopping someone in the streets to ask for directions features in some of his nightmares−it's so stupid. It's a simple thing, yet he can't bring himself to do it.

“Pardon, ici c'est le rue Moon-gee?” Michael loudly asks a woman passing them before he can make a decision. ( _Sorry, here_ _it_ _is the Moon-gee street?_ )

The woman looks bewildered and Alex groans, dipping his head in embarrassment.

“Excusez-nous,” he says, summoning his courage. It's easier once the first contact has been made. “Nous cherchons Notre-Dame.” ( _Excuse us, we're looking for Notre-Dame_ )

“Descendez la rue jusqu'au bout, et vous la verrez sur la droite,” the woman answers without hesitation. ( _Go down the street to the end, and you'll see in on your right_ )

“Merci beaucoup,” Alex smiles at her. ( _Thank you very much_ )

“What did I do wrong?” Michael asks.

“It's pronounced 'Monj',” Alex says.

“But why? That doesn't make sense,” Michael complains.

“French spelling actually makes a lot more sense than English once you learn the rules.”

“That can't be true. All those letters that aren't even pronounced?”

Alex shrugs. “Believe what you will,” he smirks.

“Are you making fun of me?”

Alex goes to answer with something flippant, but there's an edge to Michael's voice that wasn't there before. “I'm not,” he says honestly. “I admire that you're bold enough to speak French even though you don't know much of the language. I really do. And there's nothing wrong with a paper map.”

Michael deflates. “I just...I want to get the full experience, you know?”

“I get that,” Alex says. “So do I.” Timidly, he holds his hand out to Michael.

“You think we can do that here?” Michael asks.

“There are so many tourists around, no one is paying attention,” Alex insists.

Michael grabs his hand and holds onto it tightly.

“Just relax. Enjoy the moment.”

“I love you,” Michael says in his ear.

Alex squeezes his hand with a smile.

Notre-Dame's parvis is packed with tourists, so Alex and Michael just take a few moments to admire the huge front, then decide to tour the island it stands on. Behind the front towers, the whole roof is missing, and the stones seem to be held up by scaffolding and no little amount of luck.

They walk hand in hand on the riverside, soaking in the spring sun.  The tip of the island, where the two arms of the river meet, has a weeping willow overlooking the water, and they sit for a while on a bench under it. They're even daring enough to kiss.

Alex starts feeling his leg pull after walking for a couple of hours, despite their frequent breaks and the crutch. He tries not to feel guilty about slowing them down, and instead takes them to a small café on the other side of the bridge.

He lets Michael order them coffee in French, only speaking up to provide him with the vocabulary he's missing. The café's little patio overlooks the Seine and it feels a little like paradise, sitting in the sun together, admiring Notre Dame's towers and Paris's architecture from afar.  They end up staying for lunch as well.

“We can go get ice cream for desert, I saw that the place that supposedly has the best in Paris is not far from here,” Alex offers.

“Ice cream sounds good, but I want to try crêpes as well,” Michael says.

“We have a week, we can try whatever you want. Did you know crêpes can make up a full meal too? Breton restaurants make buckwheat crêpes that are stuffed with just about anything you want.”

“Okay, then we have to try that.”

T he ice creams, from a tiny place on the twin island, are amazing. Alex and Michael lick at their cones while ambling along, playfully stealing each other's ice cream.

T hey walk a little further along the river, finding barges that actually seem to be lived in, and then a park with blooming flowers at the water level. They end up in the Jardin des Plantes, admiring the  color-themed flowerbed and the rare trees, the flora as different from the New Mexico desert as it can be.

Michael steals Alex's phone and looks up every plant they come across. 

“I didn't know you liked plants so much,” Alex tells him.

“Not many to geek about in the desert. I've always been curious, but I've never seen so many species in one place before. Or that much green, really.”

“I'll have to take you out more often,” Alex laughs, thinking of the landscapes and forest of Oregon and northern California where he was stationed. 

“Did you know there was another river flowing under here once?” Michael reads from the phone. “The...Bee-ye-ver?”

“Bièvre,” Alex corrects, looking over his shoulder. “Almost.”

“Whatever. It was buried under the city because it became too dirty. Seems like a strange idea.  Oh, they have a mineralogy exhibition!”

“You mean like stones?”

“Yes! Can we go?”

Michael is giddy with excitement, almost jumping up and down. Alex laughs and nods. How can he say no to that face?

The exhibition turns out to be fairly small, but beautiful, made up of crystals and gems of all sizes. Alex finds Michael staring at large meteorite fragments.

“It's stupid, but I feel a sort of kinship with them,” he explains. “Not like we came from the same place, but there aren't a lot of stuff on Earth that came directly from space.”

“No, I get it. It's like…going to a foreign country where no one speaks English, and running into an Australian?”

Michael laughs. “You know, I actually have no idea if that metaphor is good or not. This is the first time I've been out of the US, beside,  you know, before the crash.”

“ Right. Definitely have to take you out more.”

“I'll hold you to that. Do you want to go back to the hotel?”

Alex frowns uncomprehendingly at the sudden change of subject. “Why?”

“Your limp is getting worse. It might be time to call it a day, no?”

Alex sighs. “I feel like we've barely done anything.”

“Alex, it's been an  _ amazing _ day. I mean it. But I really don't want it to end with you in pain.”

“Okay,” Alex nods, biting his lip. “Yes, I probably need to rest my leg. Maybe we can go back out for a walk after dinner, or at least find a nice place to eat.”

“Sure. Hey, taking care of you is also part of this vacation, and it's something I'm going to enjoy, okay? You're not taking anything from me, or whatever you're thinking.”

“I know,” Alex sighs as Michael pulls him closer. “I still need some adjusting, I guess.”

Michael puts an arm around him. “Then we'll adjust together.”

“I love you,” Alex murmurs into the hug. He doesn't say it often, and he feels Michael squeeze him tighter. “ I love you so much.”

“I love you too. I couldn't be happier to be right here with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos always make my day!


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